This invention is directed to a hand operated tool for assembling electrical cables to an electrical connector. More particularly, the exemplary embodiment of the invention is directed to an apparatus for crimping a cable clamp means, hereinafter sometimes referred to as clamp, onto a cable in position for termination with conductive contact means, sometimes referred to herein as contacts, on the connector, the cable clamp means being associated with the connector itself.
In the electrical industry, particularly in such fields as telecommunications or the like, a continuing problem is to provide tools or apparatus for simply performing various operations on electrical wires or cables, such as connecting, terminating or crimping the wires or cables to electrical connectors or terminals, and for otherwise handling the wires in a simple and efficient manner during volume manufacturing. This is particularly true for multi-conductor cables which have numerous individual wires for termination to plural contacts of an electrical connector. For instance, with such connectors as the well-known Amphenol Series 57 and 157 electrical connectors, an elongated connector body is provided with receptacle means including a plurality of linearly oriented slots or notches which are adapted for receiving individual contacts. The contacts may be capable of being soldered, or connected by insulation displacement techniques to the individual wires of an electrical cable. Considerable manipulation of the numerous individual wires is required, and means often and provided on the assembly tool itself for clamping or holding the cable while the individual wires are terminated to the connector contacts.
However, certain connectors of the character described now are being provided with an integral clamp which is utilized to clamp onto the outer covering of the cable and provide a strain relief thereof. In my co-pending application, Ser. No. 06/130,295, filed Mar. 14, 1980, a cable clamp closing apparatus for such connectors is disclosed in the form of an attachment for an automatic terminating machine. Pliers-type hand tools have been used for closing connector cable clamps in the field, but such tools are difficult to manipulate while at the same time manipulating the cable and clamp, and such tools simply do not have a sufficiently large target area for receiving a spread clamp prior to crimping. There is a need for a simple and versatile, self-contained hand tool for crimping cable clamps, where the tool comprises a separate apparatus for use in the field, as a bench tool, or for like applications.